Breast supporting garments



March 1961 J. VERREAULT BREAST SUPPORTING GARMENTS Filed Nov. 3, 1958 ni d S Pam 1 BREAST SUPPORTING GARMENTS Joseph Verreault, Quebec, Quebec, Canada, assiguor to Dominion Corset Company Limited, Quebec, Quebec, Canada Filed Nov. 3, 1958, Ser. No. 771,663

4 Claims. (Cl. 128-510) The present invention relates to improvements in breast molding foundation garments of the type shown and described in prior Canadian Patent No. 404,454, to L. J. A. Amyot, issued May 5, 1942, in which the breast pockets are designed to distribute the pull of the shoulder straps uniformly over the width of the pockets in such a manner that the breasts are given an exceptionally high, well separated and rounded appearance.

An important feature of the present invention consists in the provision of a garment in which the upper triangular sections of the breast pockets are each provided with two darts starting from the apex to which the forward end of the shoulder strap is attached and extending toward the left and right hand side of the cup section, the darts being cut and folded to produce curves that follow the curvature of the bust to cause the strap to exert radial pulling forces on the upper pocket section between the two sides thereof.

Another feature consists in having the upper triangular section of the breast pocket cut on the bias so that the two darts pull directly in line with the weave of the cloth to facilitate the radial pull at the apex from said shoulder strap. I

According to one embodiment of this invention the folded portions of the darts are not stitched except at the junction of the folds where they are secured to the shoulder strap. This arrangement is more suitable for conditions where freedom of expansion of the breast pocket upper section is desirable.

In another embodiment the folds of the darts are stiched along their lengths providing a definite accentuation of curvature to the contour of the bust.

Proceeding now to a more detailed description, reference will be had to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a front view of a brassiere embodying my invention.

Fig. 2 is a front view of a fragment of a brassiere showing a modification of the embodiment of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a view showing a piece of fabric which iscut and marked for use in a brassiere pocket section as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. I

Fig. 4 is a view of the fabric shown in Fig. 3 showing it partially folded to form one of the darts.

Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken along section lines 5-5 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 4 but showing the fabric folded again to form the second dart.

' Fig. 7 is a sectional view taken along the lines 7-7 of Fig. 6. I

Referring more particularly to' the drawings, 5 indicates a brassiere or breast supporting garment comprising breast pockets 6, a diaphragm band 7 below said 2,976,870 Patented Mar. 28,1961

ICC

The breast pockets 6 are divided into upper and lower sections 6a and 6b which are joined to each other, as indicated at 11, across the centre of the busts. The inner vertical edges of the pockets 6 are joined together as indicated at 12 and their lower edges are joined to the upper edge of the diaphragm band 7, as indicated at 14..

The upper section 6a is cut on the bias as indicated in Fig. 3 and the upper edges are inclined towards each other from their vertical side edges to form an upper extension 15. The outer inclined edge of extension 15 is notched at 16, as shown particularly in Figs. 3 and 4. A slit 17 extends inwardly from the notch 16 for a predetermined distance which permits the folding of the material below the slit 17 along converging fold lines 18 and 19 to form a dart 20 (see Fig. 4) which extends substantially along one line of the weave adjacent the outer side of the extension. The material is then folded above the slit 17 along converging fo'ld lines 21 and 22 to form a second dart 23 (see Fig. 6) which extends substantially along the other line of the weave adjacent the inner side of the extension. As will be seen, the portion of the second dart 23 defined by the slit 17 and one defining edge of the notch 16 overlies the portion of the first dart 20 defined by said slit 17 and the other defining edge of said notch 16 so that, when in the folded condition, the outer and inner inclined edges of the extension form two sides of a triangle having its apex 24 located substantially above the centre of In the embodiment as shown in Fig. 2, the folded por- A tions of the darts 20 and 23 are stitched along their length at 27 to provide a definite and positive contour moulding for the upper section of the pocket according to a predetermined curvature to the bust contour.

In both embodiments the darts, which diverge from the apex of the bias-cut upper pocket section, serve to provide an evenly distributed radially directed pull across the width of the pocket when stress is applied at the apex through the shoulder strap. Thus with the formation of the darts in the manner above described, the tension is equally applied in radial directions both along the darts and along intermediate radial lines even with the omission of radial stitch lines between said darts.

The lower section 6b of each breast pocket is provided with stiffening members 30, to give an uplifting support to the breast. The members 30 are secured to the under side of the lower pocket section and broaden upwardly from the lower edge of section 6b Whichis secured to the diaphragm band 7. The upper portion of the'stiffening member 30 is recessed to provide a crotch. Upper pockets and side panels 8 secured to the outer sides of i said breast pockets and diaphragm band to-extend about the wearer. The outer ends of side panels 8 are provided with complementary fastening elements 9 and 10 adapted to secure the garment at the rear of the wearer.

extensions of the stiffening member lie along either sides of the breast while. the portion of the breast below the nipple is supported in the said crotch.

. upper section of each breast pocket being provided with two darts starting from the apexof the pocket to which. the forward end of a shoulder strap is secured, one of said extending toward the left side and the other toward the right side of the centre of said pocket section, said darts being cut and folded a'long pleats tapering radially from the apex of the pocket to contour said -upper breast pocket section, characte riz ed in that said pleats cause the shoulder strap to exert a plurality of radial pulling forces on the pocket section between the two side margins of the upper breast pocket section.

2. A breast supporting garment as set forth in claim 1, in which the pleats of said darts are secured by stitching from the juncture of the darts to the outer extremities thereof.

3. A breast supporting garment as set forth in claim 1, in which the upper section of each breast pocket is cut on the bias.

4. A breast supporting garment as set forth in claim References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,507,704 Frornmer May 16, 1950 2,523,395 Sellarole Sept. 26, 1950 FOREIGN PATENTS 595,509 Germany Apr. 13, 1934 448,829 Great Britain June 16, 1936 

